


An Obedient Qalankhkai

by iwritesometimes, Kennel_Boy



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Picard
Genre: Feels, Fluff and Smut, M/M, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Praise Kink
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-15 23:07:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29072277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iwritesometimes/pseuds/iwritesometimes, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kennel_Boy/pseuds/Kennel_Boy
Summary: Swallowing past his dry throat, Elnor reached for words that seemed to have scattered in every direction in his mind. His skin grew hotter under Hugh's controlled caress. "I...I always like knowing that you think well of me. That...I havedonewell..."
Relationships: Elnor/Hugh | Third of Five
Comments: 8
Kudos: 22





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> For the Hugh Crew, by request (more or less). ;) Many thanks to hawthornetaylor for the beta!

Elnor peered out through the blazing Coppelius heat, the horizon shimmering to a watery blur, and pushed his sweat-stuck hair off his forehead with the back of his arm. Beside him, a young xB turned to look up at him, quiet and watchful; he smiled back at her, then shook his head. “It’s too hot for a walk today,” he said, “but tomorrow morning when the sun is still low, it will be nicer. Is that alright?”

She nodded, turning back inside the shade and cool of the gleaming white dormitory. Doctor Soong’s people had erected temporary housing for their xB guests when it became clear they would be staying a while, until the Federation allowed them to return to Earth. The synths had all been generous and welcoming, if perhaps a little overly friendly, considering how isolated the xBs had been and how unused to contact with anyone but those aboard the Artifact. They had been a little overwhelmed, particularly at first; even now, they mostly stayed inside out of the harsh sun and close to each other or the doctors and carers they recognized. But a few particularly adventurous and curious people had become increasingly interested in exploring the desert around Coppelius Station as the days stretched into weeks. Any of the synths would have been happy to show them around, but Elnor had taken it upon himself to chaperone anyone who went rambling. To his profound amazement and pleasure, these people he’d sworn his sword and life to protect had seemed almost unhesitatingly willing to trust him.

There was little else he could do for them that the other members of BRP staff could not do better; there was little enough to do here at all but sit and wait and stay cool, and talk to each other, as much as any of the xBs was interested in talking. Some were. They told Elnor about the Artifact, about what life had been like there, told him about the other Romulans who were not like him, who had been cold and hard and unsmiling. A few told him other things, things they remembered or thought they remembered about themselves, and in return he told them of Vashti and of the Qowat Milat and of himself, the meager experiences he could share with them, the strange commonalities he seemed to keep finding between himself and these fellow refugees, un-belongers wherever they went.

Those that didn’t speak still always seemed to listen. This was gratifying in a way Elnor never would have expected; that they trusted him to protect them equally against the oppressive sun and whatever creatures might lurk unseen out in the desert was a greater marvel still, and he took the responsibility very seriously. He too turned back inside, blinking to let his eyes adjust to the more moderated light, and gave the young woman another smile when she looked to see if he was following. Then his eyes skipped past her to Hugh standing across the lounge area, speaking in animated tones with a couple of other staff members, gesturing expansively.

For a moment Elnor let himself stand and watch him. This was a luxury he did not often allow for any great length of time, not ashamed of the impulse, but simply not wanting to impose. He knew Hugh found his regard overwhelming at times, but he’d never asked Elnor to temper it. As Elnor now tracked the motion of his hands and the shape of his mouth as he spoke, he remembered other conversations, the two of them talking over meals or late at night, Hugh telling him what was to come, preparing Elnor for the road before them and catching him up on the BRP’s accomplishments to this point. Elnor’s head spun sometimes with the amount of information and knowledge Hugh seemed to hold so easily, always churning behind intelligent bicolored eyes. A bit to his embarrassment, Elnor had sometimes found himself more captivated by those eyes than paying attention to what Hugh was saying. Getting to simply enjoy looking at him now felt indulgent, and then Hugh looked up and caught him staring, and Elnor smiled and ducked his head, something between a nod and a bow, acknowledgment and hello.

When he looked up again, Hugh was heading his way, his lips curved in an answering smile. 

It had felt natural, almost destined, for Elnor to pledge his sword to the xBs, but in the relative safety of Coppelius, Elnor’s affection for Hugh had grown by the day as he'd seen Hugh in so many different lights. If his heart had flown at once to the protector burning with righteous anger back on the Artifact, it seemed that he'd given it away a half a dozen times a day to each new facet of Hugh that revealed itself. And it seemed his heart could only overflow like a riverbed in summer flood when he'd learned his feelings - and his attraction! - were reciprocated.

The press of Hugh's hand against his own brought him back to the moment.

"Were you two looking for me?"

“Not specifically,” Elnor replied honestly, squeezing him back. “Except in that I always seem to look for you when I enter a room. I haven’t seen you today - have you been busy?”

"Just taking my turn at monitoring communications." Hugh greeted the xB as she walked by, then turned his smile to Elnor again. "You were on my mind, though. You and how easily you fit in here. It's still hard to believe you only showed up a few weeks ago."

Elnor smiled broader in reply, both at the compliment and in irresistible response to Hugh’s. He had long since memorized the way the corners of his eyes creased when he smiled just so, and thought of it more often than he probably should. “I’ve met many sorts of people in my life, and I’ve tried to get along with as many as I could,” he demurred. “But...I do feel that I fit here, too. With them, with all of you. I feel similar. That is maybe insensitive to say, but I mean that your stories feel familiar to me. The way you want choice and freedom and to make yourselves.”

"There's the difference - you assume we're people with stories, not monsters or inconveniently mobile lab specimens." Hugh squeezed Elnor's shoulder, lowered his voice. "It was also thinking... if you'd like to come to my quarters again tonight..." He cleared his throat. "Barring emergency, I can clear my evening."

The dip in Hugh's voice and the warm pressure of his hand on his shoulder conspired to spark heat that burned low and sweet in Elnor's body, reminding him again of that reciprocal attraction. It had only been a few occasions they’d found time to make love, so few that Elnor could count them on one hand with fingers to spare. But he felt himself craving more of Hugh at odd moments, hit by the memory of Hugh's warm skin and warmer laugh and aching to be near him again, though they were rarely more than a few dozen yards apart at most. Elnor nodded. "Yes, I would like to," he replied, in the same soft tone, quirking a more private smile. "In the future, you do not need to ask if I would like to. I would. At any time you choose." Being a _qalankhkai_ had so long been Elnor's private wish that he had thought he could not be more pleased in his life than when Hugh agreed to be his _rrhadam_ , but he had been _so_ mistaken. Getting to have _this_ with Hugh was a greater joy than he'd let himself hope for.

Hugh breathed a quiet, unsteady laugh, a delicate wash of sunset pink spreading over his cheeks and the bridge of his nose. 

"That's... ha, that's very generous. But I'll keep asking if you don't mind, just to be sure." Hugh glanced over his shoulder, suddenly remembering they weren't alone. His blush deepened. "Tonight then? After we've all eaten?"

Elnor raptly watched the faint pink crawl over Hugh’s skin, lips parted unconsciously. For a half-second he swayed closer, forgetting where they were, and with whom, everything in him pulling toward Hugh, the edges of his flush seeming to plead to be touched and followed, down his throat and under the high collar of his shirt. Then Elnor blinked, coming back to himself, and rocked back again. He nodded once. “Tonight,” he agreed. Belatedly, he added, “And no, I do not mind at all, if it pleases you,” and tightened his fingers on Hugh’s once more.

"Good. Thank you. I'll... see you at dinner, then?" Hugh tugged away, regret plain on his face, and headed back to his duties.

Elnor forced himself to stay busy the rest of the afternoon, helping one of the doctors distribute medicines to the most recently reclaimed xBs, still adjusting to their bodies as they were now. An hour or so before dinner, he gathered a group together to read to them from a story Hugh had suggested he might like, _The Lord of the Rings_. He suspected he was enjoying it more than his audience, but they listened attentively enough as he became engrossed in the story, only remembering to stop when another member of staff came in to call them to dinner.

Dinner was communal, all the synths and the xBs healthy enough to eat sitting together out in the courtyard as the sun went down, conversations numerous and disorganized in a way that reminded Elnor sharply of meals at the chapterhouse. As they ate, Elnor’s eyes kept drifting a few places down the table to Hugh, who avoided his gaze in a way that began to feel a little intentional. Elnor ducked his head, smiling, pleased, and hiding it in a drink of his fruit juice.

He was not part of tonight's after-dinner cleanup group, so he gravitated immediately to Hugh, saying nothing but taking up his customary position beside and slightly behind him, instinctively protective, brushing his knuckles against Hugh's to let him know he was there. Even that tiny point of contact made Elnor's heart flutter in his core, overexaggerated and uncontrollable. Hugh had been having that effect on him since he hauled him roughly in by the arm in a shadowy corridor of the Artifact, authoritative and enraged. Now, though, Hugh was relaxed and smiling, his hair still neatly in place except for a single piece falling over his forehead that Elnor itched to brush back.

Hugh ghosted a touch over Elnor's hand in return, stirring him out of his momentary longing. They said their good-nights to the others, made their way from the mess hall to the living quarters. When asked a preference, most of the xBs had chosen to sleep in a communal area, essentially a bunkhouse; Hugh, like most who’d been out of the collective for a while, had come to prefer a bit more privacy. There wasn't much to his room, which also doubled as his office: stark white walls, a bed against one wall, computer terminal at the opposite wall beside a storage chest, and a closet containing a refresher and sonic shower.

Hugh tugged Elnor into his arms as soon as the door closed behind them, kissing him with only a modicum of restraint as he slid his fingers into Elnor's hair.

"You know," he managed when they parted a moment, "most of my days the last few years were taken up writing redundant reports to people we're no longer sharing information with. And now, I'm left with time to dwell on more pleasant matters."

Elnor bracketed Hugh’s jaw in both hands and petted his thumbs over his warming cheeks as he kissed him back, following along where Hugh led him, simply pleased to be with him. He hummed, lacing his fingers together at Hugh’s nape, cradling him close. This near, Hugh's eyes were mesmerizing. "And what do you find yourself thinking of, Hugh?" he murmured, eyes straying to his mouth without permission.

"You mostly. How... good you are. For me. To me. How you stood by me on the Artifact. How you were there when I opened my eyes again." Hugh turned his head to nuzzle at Elnor's palm. "How brave and... and how _loving_ you've been. And not just to me, to all of us here. I've never met anyone quite like you. My qalankhkai." 

Hugh had always spoken Elnor's purpose with affection, but as their bond had deepened, it had become a breathed endearment, one Hugh almost never used in public. It was Elnor's turn to blush, mossy green blooming over his freckled nose and darkening the tips of his ears, his heart squeezing tight at the praise. Hugh had sometimes been effusive with it, before, and it always threatened to overwhelm him; if Hugh found it difficult to be looked at the way Elnor wanted to look at him constantly, Elnor struggled equally to process how good Hugh's easy compliments made him feel. He'd never heard anyone say “qalankhkai” with such reverence and love. It made his breath hitch in his chest, now.

"It is easy," he told Hugh, honest as ever. "To love you, to want to be kind to everyone in the BRP. To want to protect you all with every bit of strength I have. And I will, from whatever comes, Hugh." By mutual agreement, they did not speak of what had almost transpired on the Artifact, how Hugh had gone lifeless in Elnor's arms, his blood staining them both. The weight of that failure hung heavy in Elnor's chest, always, but Hugh had forgiven him, and still wanted him - as qalankhkai, and as _this_. (But those were one and the same, now.)

Hugh reached up to touch him, traced the boundaries of the blush heating his face. 

"I was thinking too of how much you like this. When I say aloud how happy you make me. How it makes your heart race and makes you smile like... like you can hardly bear it, but you seem to like it so well. I thought that tonight, you might like it if I spared you a little more praise?"

Swallowing past his dry throat, Elnor reached for words that seemed to have scattered in every direction in his mind. His skin grew hotter under Hugh's controlled caress. "I...I always like knowing that you think well of me. That...I have _done_ well. Yes. It makes me happy. So happy I'm not sure how I could contain _more_ ," he admitted with a smile, a huff of a laugh, feeling too much, all wonderful. His hands fell to Hugh's shoulders, which he squeezed tightly, restless already to touch more of him. His smile curved a little crooked on one side. "But I can try."

"Let's try," Hugh urged, his own smile wide and sure. He stepped further into the room, bringing Elnor with him. The bed was the only furniture suitable for sitting on, but Hugh's purpose seemed far less innocent than that. "I’m not nearly done figuring out all the ways you like to make love."

Towed readily along, Elnor gently coaxed Hugh down to recline on the bed, climbing in over him, momentum carrying him into another kiss, needier. He still felt breathless and overhot from Hugh's words, and this gave him a moment to adore Hugh in return, in the language with which he was more familiar. His hair slid soft over his shoulders, framing Hugh's face when Elnor let the kiss break, eyes tracking hungrily over Hugh's blushed-up features. "I've been enjoying finding those things out with you," he said, voice a little low and rough already. "Have you?"

"Entirely," Hugh murmured, lifting his head to steal another kiss. "It's never been like this before. Sex was always… always _good_ , in the moment. But never more than a pleasant experience. Like trying a new food. This... it's more than just new - I feel changed. I’ve never wanted someone so much that I couldn’t turn my thoughts away from them."

Elnor _beamed_. "It pleases me greatly to hear you say so. That's exactly how I have been feeling, too. I think of you often, all day long. And every thought makes me burn for you, Hugh." Another kiss, irresistible. "Day and night."

Hugh rolled over, pinning Elnor to the bed, not rough at all, but firm and with strength unexpected of a human. "Tell me about it?" he prompted, the words breathless, his eyes smoldering as he undid Elnor’s belt.

It was a moment before Elnor could respond, momentarily breathless at the show of Hugh's strength; he'd suspected before that Hugh was stronger than he looked: The easy way in which he'd manhandled Elnor on the Artifact and then helped lift some of his fallen comrades after the crash had hinted at more than typical human ability. Here now was the proof, and it ignited a fire under Elnor's skin. He gasped softly as he caught his breath, watching Hugh intently as he worked, clever fingers undoing him without hesitation. "About how I think of you?" he murmured; at Hugh's encouraging look, he continued. "In the morning, my first thought is of you, and when I will see you, see your smile and know you are pleased to see me. In the middle of the day, as I am working or talking to someone, I will lose my train of thought because I've remembered the heat of your mouth on mine." Hugh's fingertips grazed bare skin, and Elnor's voice quavered. "And at night, when I'm not with you, I remember being with you instead, and touch myself the way you've touched me, and whisper your name when I come."

Hugh slid one hand up along Elnor's belly, pale skin a warm contrast to his own sun-browned body. He swallowed, watching intently as Elnor arched unconsciously into the touch. "Would you stay more often, if I asked you to?”

Elnor nodded, eager, but he paused a moment to choose his words; there were many facets to candor, and Hugh had more than enough demands on his time every day. Elnor did not want to be another one. "If you would like me to, Hugh."

"I'd like your company, I just..." He laughed softly. "I’m not sure these days how much of you staying close all the time is because you’re my bodyguard and how much is because you’re my lover.”

That gave Elnor pause. “I stay close because I want to be close to you,” he said. “I'm your qalankhkai. I'm here to look out for _you_ , whatever that means. I would be glad simply to be with you, whenever you want a companion. It doesn't have to be," he gestured between them, "this."

"Sorry." And then Hugh was kissing him again, this time a tender apology that stretched out for a delicious span of heartbeats. "I didn’t mean it to sound like that - the sex isn’t more important than just being with you."

Elnor slid a hand into Hugh's hair, holding him there a moment after the kiss broke, slowly smiling up at him. "That is how I feel, also. Nor is it more important than making sure you’re safe.” He took a steadying breath. “This is new for both of us. I just want you to remember I'm here, whenever you need me." He ran his hand down the back of Hugh's neck, to the fastenings of the faintly military harness he still wore over his utilitarian greys. Elnor made a mental note to ask Hugh why he still wore it now that they were clear of the Artifact, but that was for later. Much later.

Right now, what he wanted more than anything was Hugh's skin under his hands.

Hugh laughed again at Elnor's eagerness, all delight now. 

"You are. Always there for me. My faithful, devoted qalankhkai."

He said it the way he always said it, lower and fuller and warmer than anyone else, and it sent a shiver down Elnor's spine, made his ears feel hot. He snapped the fastenings apart one by one down the back of the ugly thing, wanting it gone. Wanting all their clothes gone. "What do you need from me now?" he murmured, smiling, tugging the harness free and throwing it unceremoniously into the floor. The zipper of Hugh's coveralls was easier.

Hugh obediently shrugged out of his greys, then the undershirt beneath, baring unique patterns of skin and scars and metal, signposts of his body that Elnor already could have mapped in his sleep. 

"I need you to lie back and let me finish undressing you," Hugh said. His voice was no murmur now, but firm, with a note of stern authority. It made Elnor blink, made him _hot_ , made him comply immediately. He looked up at Hugh, wide-eyed and aching low in the pit of his stomach; he couldn't help but touch him now, sliding his palms over Hugh's shoulders, down his chest while Hugh undressed him in turn. Hugh always kept himself so covered up, throat to wrists - not shame, Elnor knew, but more like self-consciousness, and...to make it easier to move through the world. The scars on his face attracted enough attention; Elnor had seen it even since coming to Coppelius. The rest of him would've been an object of curiosity, he was sure, the way the other xBs had been for the sheltered synths.

The thought made protectiveness swell in Elnor, and no small amount of jealousy. To his eyes, Hugh's body was a miracle, infinitely beautiful, and not just in the story it told, but purely aesthetically, too. He'd not stopped wanting to touch Hugh from almost the first moment he'd taken his hand, steadying him, there in the middle of the Artifact's carnage. Getting to see the parts of him he kept covered had felt like being taken into his confidence in a way Elnor had never known with another person before. He pulled Hugh closer, greedy for him, but otherwise did not interfere with his work as Hugh slid the robe off his shoulders, following the reveal of his skin with kisses. Elnor helped wriggle free of the rest of his clothes, too, gasping at the heat of Hugh's skin against his.

"You're beautiful." Hugh's voice was pitched low as he pushed the last of their clothes to the floor. His hands chased each other up the smooth length of Elnor's thigh, his augmented strength once again tempered. "But I've seen beauty before, Elnor. Known it in an intimate and terrible way. What you did for us - for _me_ , qalankhkai, was a sacrifice of self, done easily as breathing. I fell in love with you before I even knew what I'd done."

Elnor could not have stopped himself going warm from head to toe, ducking his eyes a little. His whole body sang under Hugh's hands, so gentle and intent, leaving his skin prickling in their wake; he was already hard, just from Hugh's attentiveness. "You know it was the same for me, don't you?" he murmured, meeting Hugh's eyes again. "That you had my heart almost instantly. I knew from the moment you told me what you were going to do that I would follow you as far as it took."

"I love to hear it." Hugh punctuated his gratitude with a brief, playful kiss. "But I'm talking about you. Be an obedient qalankhkai and stay on subject?"

Elnor laughed. "I am sorry." He beamed up at Hugh, tangling his fingers once more in his hair. "It is...difficult for me to remember not to reciprocate. I'm not used to this." He kissed the corner of Hugh's mouth, sweeter, lingering. "But I like it. Continue. I will be quiet."

"I would never stifle you. Feel free to agree with me about your wonderful qualities."

"I am even _less_ used to that." Elnor traced the line of Hugh's jaw, grazing the cool metal of the port there. "But it pleases me that you see things you like."

"I do. And I see it is my responsibility as your lover and your rrhadam that you become accustomed to recognizing your worth." And oh, how Hugh was looking at him now, drinking him in like clean, sweet water with his midnight-midday gaze. 

He caught Elnor's hand where it lingered against his jaw, kissed his work-rough palm and sword callouses. 

"I'm grateful for your strength, qalankhkai, body and heart. That you can carry me when I need it most."

Instead of responding immediately, turning the compliments back to Hugh again, Elnor made himself lie still and listen, feel the contrast of Hugh's fingers and lips on his hand. He looked at Elnor with hunger he was much more familiar with, attuned to. He'd been looked at by many people in that way, since before he was old enough to understand what desire was. Hugh's words, however, pierced his heart, painfully bright, like sudden sunlight in a dark place. He quaked with rising heat.

"It is yours," he whispered finally. "What strength I have is all yours."

"I'm beyond grateful for you." Hugh stretched out beside him, guided Elnor to turn for another kiss, to press his own heated skin and hardening cock to Elnor's body. 

"Sweet qalankhai..." Hugh’s fingers ghosted through Elnor's hair, undoing the ribbon that held his topknot in place and combing his hair free. Touching him so easily, as if Elnor had been his to cherish all their lives. "I love you for your candor. It frees me to be honest with you, knowing you'll be the same with me. I'll always be on solid ground with you."

Elnor tipped his head into the touch, feeling oversensitive all over, flayed raw by Hugh's sweetness. The heat of Hugh's body made his own ache, hips hitching before he could stop them, seeking some kind of outlet for how overfull he already felt. Hugh had barely touched him and already Elnor felt like he might burst. He kissed him instead, wrapped his arm around Hugh's middle to pull him closer still. "Was there no one you could be so open with, before?" he asked, breathless, their faces so close he could have counted Hugh's dark lashes.

"Once, maybe, before I even understood what a gift that was. By the time I'd met him again, I'd learned some harsh lessons about how much of myself to give away." 

Apology formed on Elnor's tongue, but Hugh kissed it away before it was more than reflex. 

"I have you, here and now. I'm happy with you and your candor and questions and your boundless, loving heart. But we’re talking about me again, qalankhkai. And that’s against the rules tonight."

Elnor sighed, flushing now in embarrassment more than want. "I want to obey," he said honestly. Bending his head, he kissed the curve of Hugh's neck, sucking soft and then not so soft at his collarbone, brushing his lips over the cool metal remnants of Hugh’s past. Perhaps, he thought, he should simply put his mouth to better use, if it was only going to make him disobedient. He smiled, grazed his teeth over the reddened lovebite he'd left. Yes, he was good with his mouth; if Hugh wanted an opportunity to compliment him on something, it should be for something truly good...and they had not had a chance to do that together, yet.

He slid his arms free from around Hugh and began pressing kisses along his chest, following the midline of his body, working downward. Hugh shuddered under his lips, sending fresh heat through Elnor’s overhot body. It took longer to stoke Hugh's fires, he had learned; he could not say if it was because Hugh was older or human or if it was because of what the Borg had done to him, and in these moments, he did not wish to stop and ask. Elnor only wanted to breathe in his scent, taste his skin, and drink in every sign of his rrhadam's pleasure until he knew his needs as well as his own.

He pressed a kiss to the inside of Hugh's thigh, followed by a lazy, curious lick. Even that tender skin was marked with scar tissue, the site of another uneven graft. But Hugh sucked a breath all the same.

"Oh! You... mmm, what are you doing down there?" The question was gratifyingly breathless.

Elnor smiled, nuzzled his face against that warm skin a moment, before gently pushing Hugh's thigh up, propping it on his shoulder, opening him up and nestling himself in the soft heat between his legs. He kissed Hugh low on his belly. "I am giving you the chance to tell me all you like about me," he said, grinning up at him wickedly for a moment before he bent his head to take Hugh's hardening cock into his mouth. He had thought of doing this, knew he wanted to. The few nights they had spent together already had been full with drinking in the heady reality that they _were_ together, now. Elnor had scarcely been able to stop himself kissing Hugh long enough to do anything else at all. Tonight felt different, more deliberate, and thus more open to other possibilities. He slid further down, humming softly, eyes slipping closed, and committed the taste and feeling of him to memory, the way Hugh twitched slightly, his hands curling against Elnor's shoulders. Elnor spread his own fingers out, one hand on Hugh's stomach, the other over his muscled thigh, and his mouth blissfully full as he settled, for a long moment merely staying like that.

"Elnor." Breathed on an uneven exhale. Hugh's fingers curled over the back of his neck, into his hair, but there was no effort to guide, only hold. As if he couldn't bear the idea that Elnor might slip away. "You're just... good to me," Hugh murmured. "So good, and you want to _stay_."

Elnor hummed again, a _firm_ affirmative, pressing his fingertips a little harder into Hugh's thigh, sliding down onto him a little further, entirely taking him in. _More than anything. Not going anywhere._ He hoped it was clear, hoped Hugh knew without question how much he wanted to stay. For Hugh's sake, for all the xBs...for himself. The selfishness in him gleefully said, _yes, yes, and for **this**_ , for drawing up and pressing back down on Hugh's body, for feeling Hugh’s fingers tighten reflexively, deliciously, in his hair. For more of being told that he was _good_.

"You offered us your life and your sword as if it was the most _right_ thing in the universe," Hugh breathed, flexing restlessly under his hands. "And then gave me everything else. All of you, without asking. And you don't even seem to realize how rare that was, my Elnor. How wonderful you are."

Elnor trembled against him, almost fearful of the way Hugh's words made him feel: wild and undone, like he could _fly_. Like he would do anything to keep Hugh thinking this of him. To keep Hugh _with_ him. The thought went through him and behind it a deeper quake, as Elnor realized with blinding shock that he'd uncovered a great and awful truth, entirely by accident. He wanted to _keep_ Hugh, and was afraid he could not. Hugh's lavish praise was not so different from things Elnor had heard before, from people who meant so much to him - other lovers who had admired his looks or his skills. Even further back than that: Mother Zani telling him he had promise, Admiral Picard telling him he was a bright boy; and further still, his parents telling him he was special and precious. All of them had left him or given him up, in the end, and given the lie to their words, one way or another.

To have so much love from Hugh now, and risk losing it, felt like it would be more than Elnor could survive. And so there was a part of him that could not trust the words, could hardly stand to hear them, only for them to turn out untrue, later.

That was unfair; Hugh had never yet lied or deceived him. Elnor had already failed him once in the worst way he could, and still Hugh had accepted him, told him he wanted him to stay. Why should Elnor disbelieve it? Because he had been lied to by others, in the past? And why should he doubt Hugh meant what he said now, especially the sweet and beautiful things, when Hugh shivered under his hands and panted his name, and the clear evidence of what he wanted was hot and heavy against Elnor’s tongue? Hugh sincerely believed what he said. That was enough.

Elnor went down on him again with renewed determination to be as good and as giving to Hugh as he could, and to trust him when he told Elnor those things he most wanted to hear. Hugh trusted him with his life. Elnor could trust him to be truthful about how he felt.

He reached up and gently curled his fingers around Hugh’s wrist, shifting his hand more securely to the back of his head, bunching his fingers up in his hair. _Again,_ he thought, moaning as Hugh’s fingers tightened enough to pull. _More._

Hugh shuddered, his hips hitching minutely, his control slipping under Elnor's silent demand.

"You're my fearless bright star," he panted. "My qalankhkai. My Elnor. I _want_ you to stay, please..."

Joy burst in Elnor's core, and he swallowed wetly around Hugh's heat in his mouth, giddy warmth bubbling up in him. With a smooth and decisive movement, he turned the tables on his rrhadam once more, rolling him flat to his back and pinning him immovably, hands firm on his hipbones, thumbs tracking over the skin-warm bands of metal there reinforcing his joints. He wanted to worship Hugh until he knew every inch of his uniquely beautiful body as well as his own; given enough time, he was sure he would manage it. For now, he concentrated on keeping Hugh's breath coming short, making him continue to squirm fruitlessly under his hands as he worked him steadily, unrelenting. _Not going anywhere,_ he thought, definitively. _I belong here with you._

"Elnor...!" Hugh's grip on his shoulder tightened. His skin was hot and slick under Elnor's hand, the desire radiating from him in waves, leaving Elnor throbbing and hard against the sheets. "Ah, fuck... don't, don't make me come yet. I want... with you up here, Elnor."

For a fleeting moment, Elnor considered disobeying him again, intentionally now, just to see what he would do...but the rebellious instinct passed, and he slowed and then drew off, panting hard, heat fizzing under his skin. His mouth felt hot and oversensitive, his jaw aching as he smiled, but still he _smiled_. He kissed his way back up again, until he could lick into Hugh's mouth, a laugh bursting out of him after a moment. He leaned their foreheads together, both of them breathing hard. "Anything...you ask...rrhadam," he sighed happily.

"Your rrhadam." A breathless promise, and then Hugh was kissing him again, one hand tight in his hair as if to anchor himself to Elnor's side for always, the other wrapped around Elnor’s aching cock as Hugh rutted against his stomach. Elnor made an incomprehensible sound, throaty and pleading, his eyelids dipping low at the sweet-sharp pressure of Hugh's hand in his hair. He curled his fists in Hugh's bedclothes and arched against him harder, giving Hugh as much pressure where he needed it as he could. "Hugh," he keened softly, meeting his eyes, tugging against his hold just a little to bite Hugh’s lip. 

The bite only prompted a hungry kiss in return, Hugh moaning restlessly against his mouth. His hand pumped relentlessly at Elnor’s cock, slick with precum. "Touch me? Please, Elnor..."

Elnor obeyed instantly, pressing closer still and taking Hugh in hand, gentle at first, careful in case he was sensitive, then firmer as Hugh rolled into the touch. It knocked the breath out of him again, seeing the flush unfurling down Hugh's throat and chest, seeing his intelligent eyes go hazy and dark; Elnor's stomach knotted with need almost too big to contain, too much to feel at one time, balled up with loyalty and hope. He stroked Hugh a little faster, knowing he was close, that they both were. "Good, Hugh?" he murmured against his mouth, the smallest pleading note in his voice.

"Perfect," Hugh managed, his voice low and rough with cresting pleasure. "You're perfect... come for me, qalankhkai?”

He almost needn't have asked; Elnor already was, gasping and shivering apart for what felt like forever. He kept enough sense about him to keep his hand moving on Hugh, feeling his body bow back and reveling in his soft cry as he came, too, his hands going tight on Elnor's cock and in his hair. _Perfect._ Elnor buried his face in Hugh's throat and laughed again, pure joy, breathless, boundless, residual shudders breaking over his skin. The too-full, overwhelming feeling under his skin had splintered away to sweet warmth with Hugh's voice, and Elnor couldn't help but smile so hard it hurt. _You're perfect._ He kissed up to Hugh's soft mouth, petting back his dark hair from his face, watching him come back to himself, smiling still. "Beautiful," he murmured, playful lilt in his voice.

Hugh blinked, apparently unprepared for the endearment, then breathed a laugh of his own, resting his brow to Elnor's shoulder as he went boneless against his body. "Mmm. Well. You are."

Elnor grinned against his hair. "And so are you. I know I am not supposed to be complimenting you. But I am not sorry to break the rule now."

"Oh, I see." Hugh breathed deep and relaxed his hold on Elnor's hair, but wrapped him in a warm embrace. His human heart drummed against Elnor's chest, so oddly placed, but so reassuring at the same time. "Now that you've gotten what you need, anything goes?" He tucked himself up under Elnor's chin, pressed to every inch of skin he could reach.

Elnor huffed a laugh again, holding Hugh closer still, hand tight to his nape. He fit so well into the space of Elnor's body, as if Elnor had been made to protect him like this. And he would. With every breath in him, he would. "Is that too far? Perhaps you will have to tell me when I am being rebellious. I am too happy now to contain myself."

"I'd hate to curtail your happiness." Hugh sighed the words, ran one hand lazily down Elnor's back.

Grinning, he kissed Hugh's temple. "You have done nothing but make it greater. Greater than I ever imagined it could be. It...it is a great joy being yours, Hugh." He nosed softly at his hair. "Thank you. For all of this."

Hugh was silent for a moment, then slowly lifted his head to look Elnor in the eye. "Thank you for being part of my life."

Elnor cupped his cheek, brushing his thumb over the last of the pink flush fading from Hugh's skin. "I am here to stay, Hugh. For as long as you want me." His lip quirked up. "Longer, if I think you need me."

"I think we’re going to do a lot of good together. Our ultimate goal is to rescue every drone from the Borg collective, you know." Hugh turned to place a kiss, warm as sunlight, in Elnor's palm. "That will be a lifetime of work. And we'll need all the help we can get."

Elnor watched him raptly, holding very still, committing to memory the touch of Hugh's lips and the dark smudge of his lashes against his scarred cheek. "Then I look forward to the work ahead. With you."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The wonderful [Regionalpancake](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Regionalpancake/pseuds/Regionalpancake) made us a gif inspired by this story, and it's just lovely! Thank you so much!

_He caught Elnor's hand where it lingered against his jaw, kissed his work-rough palm and sword callouses. "I'm grateful for your strength, qalankhkai, body and heart. That you can carry me when I need it most."_


End file.
